


Winter Wonders

by ObsidianRomance



Series: A Matter of Coincidence 'Verse [21]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Cute babies, Established Relationship, Hand Jobs, M/M, Male Lactation, More Schoomp, Post Mpreg Jared, Schmoop, Schmopp schmoop schmoop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-04
Updated: 2014-02-04
Packaged: 2018-01-11 02:55:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1167803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObsidianRomance/pseuds/ObsidianRomance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In search of quality family time, Jared and Jensen take their kids away for a few days. This is the schmoopy result.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Winter Wonders

**Author's Note:**

> Umm...So I promise the next installment is actually substantial and has plot and everything! I swear!  
> Blame Jesaku for this.

Lately, it doesn’t take much to wake Jensen.

He’d thought he’d be able to sleep through anything since he’s been running on less sleep with more demands on his life but that’s not true at all.

He and Jared took a long time getting to the “spending the night” portion of their relationship when they started dating so he’d never had to deal with newborns waking him up in the middle of the night or at the crack of dawn. Arianna and Brooke were pretty much sleeping through most of the night by the first time Jared shoved Jensen into his bedroom and wouldn’t let him leave.

The shrill crying coming through the baby monitor on the side of the bed makes him open his eyes in a squint and let out a groggy whine. He catches sight of the red numbers on their digital clock mocking him with 3:52. Sighing, he tries to rise up on his forearms but a hand lands in the middle of his chest and pushes him back down.

“I’ll get him.” Jared says with a sleepy smile, looking down at Jensen. “You go back to sleep.” He learns forward and drops a quick kiss to Jensen’s forehead.

In the gray dimness of their bedroom, Jensen can see Jared wince as he moves to get out of bed and he feels like he should protest but he knows better. Jared won’t take no for an answer right now.

He watches Jared go, flopping onto his belly and stealing Jared’s pillow so he can inhale his boyfriend’s scent and drift off to sleep.

When he wakes again, it’s light enough in a room to be a respectable waking hour but still dim enough to tell his mind he should be lounging in bed.

He reaches out a searching hand to thump over the spot on the bed that Jared usually occupies and comes up empty. All he’s got is a pillow and that’s much less appealing than the real thing.

Pulling himself out of the warm cocoon of the blankets, he pads his way towards Chase’s nursery. The door is slightly ajar and he pushes it open slowly to stop the creak in the hinge that he’s been meaning to fix.

In the corner of the room, Jared is passed out in the rocking chair, legs kicked up on a rocking ottoman. He has Chase nuzzled safely in his arms, the infant wrapped in a fleecy blanket sucking away at a silicone pacifier. The baby is just as sleepy as his papa.

The sight warms Jensen’s heart and he has to stop and soak it in for a minute.

It’s everything he envisioned for his life: a man he loves and a son he loves just as much. The only things missing are their twins. Crossing his arms over his chest, he leans against the wall and watches a lock of hair fall into Jared’s face as he keeps up his sleepy calm breathing. Jared gave birth to Chase three weeks ago but Jensen thinks, in a lot of ways, Jared looks better than ever before. Mostly, that’s because Jensen loves how committed Jared was to his pregnancy and, by default, their family. He bitched about gaining weight but never actually fought it. He’s softer than usual but Jensen loves it and he knows he’ll love it just as much when Jared gets the okay to exercise again and whips his body back into shape.

Jared isn’t the only thing that makes Jensen’s heart flip-flop. Chase is pretty perfect too. He looks perfect in Jared’s arms, just like he does when anyone holds him. He _fits_ in so many ways that all of them haven’t even begun to make themselves known yet.

Chase gums the pacifier out of his mouth and whines as it tumbles to the floor. He’s still sleepy but he wiggles in Jared’s arms and tries to suckle the air. When he’s met with nothing, he whines louder.

“Ohh, shush, little man,” Jensen says on a whisper. He doesn’t want to wake Jared because the man deserves to sleep in a bit. Even though Jensen’s working part time hours right now, Jared’s still insisted on taking care of Chase in the middle of the night. Logically, it makes sense. Jensen’s the one who has to go into the office and needs to be functional enough to deal with clients, but Jared needs to rest too.

Scooping Chase into his arms, Jensen bounces him softly while humming close to the baby’s ear so he doesn’t wake his boyfriend. He gives a nibble of kisses to Chase’s temple and rests his head there, loving his son’s baby smell and smiles in amusement over the fact that is son is still completely bald.

It’s been a shock to everyone considering who his parents are and how much hair Ari and Brooke had when they were born.

Chase continues whimpering like a puppy and Jensen’s learned that means he’s hungry, wet, or both.

Jensen hushes to him and gently lays him down on the changing table to find that, yep, he is indeed wet.

Changing diapers is old hat for Jensen. Chase added the fun little detail of peeing as soon as cold air hits his bare bottom but Jensen figured that out pretty quick. Unsnapping the bottom of his onesie, Jensen makes quick work of getting Chase clean and dry. He’s about to snap him back up when his fingers brush up against the baby’s dried umbilical cord stump. The thing falls off and Jensen shouts. “Shit!”

So much for letting Jared sleep.

The man startles out of the chair so fast that he almost falls on the floor. “Jen?”

“I think I broke him,” Jensen says dumbly as he stares at the dried cord that fell next to Chase’s belly. The baby is cooing happily, like nothing just happened. Jensen’s afraid to look at the infant’s belly button because he’s sure he messed up somewhere.

“What?” Jared shouts and scrambles to his feet. He’s peaking over Jensen’s shoulder before shooting a look of confusion at the man.

“I…Um…I was changing him and _it_ just fell off.” Jensen says while he points an incriminating finger towards the stump.

It takes Jared a second to catch up with Jensen’s wild train of thought but when he does, he laughs out loud. “Oh, Jen! Baby.” He wraps his arms around Jensen from behind and hugs him close, placing a kiss on his cheek and resting his chin on his right shoulder. “You didn’t break him. That’s supposed to happen around now. Happened with the girls around four weeks but you weren’t around to see it happen.”

“Oh.” Jensen flushes and feels like an idiot as his heart rate stops its sudden increase. He knew that. He really did. He even remembers when Jared told him about the girls losing their cords around the same time like they had a psychic link. “I thought…I…” He lets out a breath and tickles Chase’s belly, finally looking at it and seeing nothing but a perfectly normal looking outtie belly button. “Fuck, I’m such an idiot.”

“No you’re not. It’s adorable. Really.” Jared smiles against Jensen’s neck. “Look at our little boy. Growing up and everything.”

“Yeah, we’ll be applying to college and filing for financial aid next week.” Jensen quips and gets an elbow to his ribs from Jared. “What?”

“Don’t even joke about that.”

Jensen regrets the joke immediately. Jared lets out a little whimper but stifles it. It’s a valiant effort but Jensen knows his boyfriend’s been all over the place with hormones and a touch of the baby blues. “I’m sorry I woke you Jay.”

“It’s okay. What time is it?”

“Seven.” Jensen looks at his little boy and wants to kiss his soft little belly and nibble on his hands. So he does. Chase kicks out and makes a shrill coo. “Hey, cutie,” he says as he pulls away and finishes redressing his son. Lifting the baby up, Jensen situates him over his chest so that his cheek can rest on his left shoulder.

“Seven? God, he’s probably hungry,” Jared states but doesn’t try to break up Jensen and Chase’s bonding time. “Want me to nurse him or do you wanna feed him a bottle? I think I have one left in the fridge.”

Jensen kisses Chase’s head. He knows the baby is a little monster when he gets hungry and Jared has a point. “You should probably nurse him. The girls are going to be up soon and I’d rather you rest a little bit. I’ll take care of Ari and Brooke. Get their breakfast started.” With a smile, he makes a smooth transfer in placing Chase in Jared’s arms.

“Come here, Chase.” Jared smiles warmly at the baby and kisses his forehead. “You’re lucky you’re cute, kid.” He laughs and looks up at Jensen.

It’s that look that does it for Jensen every time. He’s seen that look on Jared’s face since the day he met him but back then they were few and far between. Now, the smile lights up Jared’s face and Jensen fills with warmth knowing that he has something to do with that. It’s actually a mutual chain reaction. Jared fills Jensen with the feeling of completeness. He never imagined that he would be able to have _this_. He wanted a family and a partner, he even had thoughts of how that might turn out for him but being with Jared and being a father to Arianna, Brooke and Chase is better than any daydream.

Jensen finds himself stalling. He should probably start breakfast or maybe even get coffee going because Arianna and Brooke are like alarm clocks; they _will_ be up in less than thirty minutes. He can’t move, however, because he’s hooked into the scene in front of him.

Jared returns back to his chair and cradles Chase with one arm while he fiddles with his robe. It had been pulled tight enough that Jensen didn’t realize Jared wasn’t wearing a shirt but now the span of his chest is on display. Jensen knows he’s biased but people would have to be blind not to see that Jared looks pretty damn amazing for being three weeks postpartum. His chest is smooth but there is definition to his pecs to indicate that he’s been nursing Chase.

Chase whines, impatient and furrowing his brow at the very serious issue of meal time. He hits Jared’s chest with a lazy balled up fist before Jared coos at him, shushing his whining as he gets him into a better position to nurse. Chase latches on and makes sweet puppy noises while his lips suckle.

It’s such an intimate scene of pure adoration and Jensen can’t help but get emotional over it. It’s perfect and he knows he’s a sap but he always loved watching Jared nurse their babies. It always tugs at something in his heart because it is visual magic. It’s perfect. Jared is perfect and he doesn’t even realize it; the sad part is, Jensen thinks he never will. He’ll always have scars despite the fact that Jared doesn’t relate any of them to Jensen.

Jensen thinks it’s funny that on their first date, Jared had treated Jensen to such an intimate scene when he nursed Arianna. He’s sure Jared was more concerned with actually feeding his daughter but it was the first time the defenses around Jared slipped. Jensen’s been hooked ever since.

“Wha’?” Jared asks as he looks up at Jensen’s dreamy face.

“Nothing. You know…just you…being …well, being you.”

Jared smiles and then beckons Jensen closer with a jerk of his head. “Come’er.”

Jensen goes. He knows immediately that Jared wants a kiss based on his boyfriend’s upturned face. Leaning down, their lips touch, both smiling. Jared teases Jensen’s kiss with his tongue and hums happily.

“Oh, god, Jay,” Jensen says pulling away, putting an apologetic hand over his mouth. “Morning breath,” he offers as an excuse for sneaking out of the kiss.

Jared laughs. “Seriously? I think we’ve handled worse.”

“Well, in that case…” Jensen meets Jared’s lips in a kiss again but it’s cut short.

“Papa!” Arianna thumps across the nursery and wraps around Jared’s leg. Brooke is hot on her heels, grabbing onto Jared’s other leg, mounting an attack like they’d spent the morning hours planning it.

Jensen can’t say he’s surprised. They started getting the girls used to beds rather than cribs and Jensen thinks he is an idiot for suggesting they do it right after Jared gave birth. They have their hands full enough and having two little monkeys learning that they can climb out of bed whenever they want and scamper into Jared and Jensen’s room and crawl into their bed isn’t exactly making things easier.

Not to mention, Arianna and Brooke are enthralled with Chase. He found Arianna almost tipping over the baby’s bassinette in the middle of the night because she, “wanted to kiss his head.”

They’ve been good for the most part. “Big girl” beds excite them and they like showing them off to anyone who happens to come visit the house, unaware that most visitors are over to meet the new little Ackles-Padalecki and not to marvel in the glory of their bed with frilly butterfly comforters and throw pillows.

It probably would have been easier to rely on the cribs keeping the girls in one place but Jared and Jensen both agreed that they were getting too big for their britches and were only one bad idea away from leaping their crib’s confines in a single bound.

“Good morning munchkins.” Jensen crouches down to his daughter’s level and kisses each of their heads, getting a giggle from both of them.

“Morning, daddy!” Arianna says with a toothy smile.

“Daddy!” Brooke throws herself at Jensen and wraps her arms around him. “Morning, daddy!” She makes a big show of kissing his cheek and leaves a wet mark in her wake.

Meanwhile, Arianna starts climbing up Jared’s lap and sits on his thigh, facing her nursing brother. “Morning baby Chase!” She pets him like he’s a kitten with slow drawn out movements. Each one is gentle, just like Jared and Jensen have drilled into her head.

Hearing her brother’s name pops Brooke out of her moment with Jensen and she struggles to try and get on Jared’s lap. She can’t. There really isn’t room and Jensen scoops her into his arms and holds her low on his hip so she’s close to her brother. “Baby Chase eating?” Brooke asks. She touches his nose and he whines, wrinkling it up and turning closer to Jared’s chest.

“Yeah, Brooky, Chase is eating. Just like you and Ari used to eat.” Jared says with a smile, kissing Brooke on the cheek.

Brooke and Arianna try to make sense of what Jared said. They are absolutely confused as to why Chase doesn’t eat pancakes, chicken and peanut butter. They don’t get how Jared is feeding their brother but they take their father’s word and nod.

Arianna pets Chase’s head and huffs. Jensen’s seen jealousy but it’s minimal and completely expected new sibling jealousy. She wants Jared’s attention. “Papa…I hungry.”

“I got it.” Jensen adds before Jared can feel guilty. “Come on, angel face. Want to help me make breakfast?”

Arianna’s eyes light up and she smiles at Jensen with a nod. “Fwench toast!” she yells with enthusiasm. It makes Jared and Jensen laugh because she’s been on a French toast kick that they don’t see ending anytime soon. She reaches out for Jensen and he takes her from Jared, plopping both girls on the ground to hurry after him.

Making breakfast is damn near impossible.

It’s Jensen’s fault, really. He’s a sucker for Ari and Brooke’s big eyes and smiley faces.

It starts out easy. He gets everything set out and has a pan heating up when both girls want to “help.”

“Help” is not a word that really exists in the twin’s world. Their hearts are in the right place. They try to “help” with Chase, bringing Jared and Jensen diapers or clean onesies, but usually they grab way too many and make a bigger mess. They try to “help” clean up the play room by picking up their toys, but they just hide them in Chase’s pack-n-play.

It doesn’t matter, Jensen still lets them help all they want because one day they’ll get it. And it’s cute that they try to mimic what their parents do.

So, he ends up with one girl on each hip. He’s glad they live up to their nickname of “monkeys” because he can’t hold them both and cook. They hang onto him, making a game of playing peek-a-boo with each other, using Jensen as their hiding spot. It leaves Jensen free to use his hands. It’s messy and slow going but he’s able to dip the bread in egg mix and fry up their breakfast.

A flash goes off in his face and Jensen looks up from his work to see Jared pointing a camera in their faces with Chase snuggled on his shoulder, sleepy face completely passed out on a burp cloth. “If cooking with kids was an Olympic sport, you’d be in the running for the gold medal,” Jared says while catching Jensen off guard with another picture.

“I’ve had a lot of practice.” He flips the last piece of French toast onto a plate and crouches down to put the girls back on the floor. “Go ahead monkeys. Go sit at the table.”

They listen, crawling onto their usual seats and waiting patiently. Jared manages to get their plates – completely identical ones or else they’ll fight – and a set of children’s forks.

Without two wiggly toddlers, completing the rest of breakfast is easy. Jensen distributes a slice to each girl and two for Jared and himself before setting the serving plate down and pouring coffee.

They let the girls fend for themselves in making progress with cutting up their meal. Jared’s been trying to teach them some sliver of independence, even though Brooke has a habit of using her hands when she thinks no one is looking.

“It’s good,” Jared compliments like he always does as he takes a bite. Jensen thinks that if he has mastered cooking with kids then Jared is the reigning champion of eating one handedly with an infant in the other.

“Hey, Jay? Let’s go away somewhere.” The words are out of his mouth before he even has a chance to warm the conversation up.

“Away? We..umm…well we kind of have out hands full here. And…work…”

“Work is going to get crazy soon. I figured that maybe we could go away, just our little family. Something simple where we don’t have to worry about people randomly showing up. I mean, you know I _love_ our friends and family and it means the world to me that they are excited about Chase’s arrival, but I was thinking it will be nice for us to get away before I have to put in longer hours.”

Jared shrugs with a smile. “I like what you’re thinking, but I don’t think we can handle three kids and a plan ride.”

“Ohh, god, me either.” Jensen nods in agreement. “I was thinking we drive. Leave late at night so they sleep the whole trip. Maybe go somewhere snowy. I think the girls will love snow. Don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Jared smiles through another bite of food. “You got ideas as to where we could go?”

“Leave it to me.” Jensen gives a satisfied smile around the edge of his coffee cup as he sips the hot liquid. He’s got plans but he doesn’t feel like filling Jared in on them just yet. All his boyfriend has to do is pack some warm clothing and he’ll take care of the rest.

It’s true that when tax season starts he is going to be busier than ever, and he’s dreading that, but he wants to make the most of the time they have left before the craziness starts.

***********************

They leave two weeks later at midnight. The girls are passed out in their car seats and Chase sleeps pretty much the whole way up. They go north but Jensen won’t tell Jared anything more. He lets Jared drive for a few hours but then takes over after they stop to change Chase’s diaper and give him a quick meal. Jared falls asleep too, head turned to face Jensen and lips parted softly as he dozes.

By the time they reach the lodge, there is daylight peeking out over the horizon and Jared blinks awake. He apologizes for sleeping so long but Jensen doesn’t mind. He’d rather Jared sleep. That doesn’t mean he won’t snuggle into their room for a cat nap sometime during the day while Jared tends to their kids.

Checking in is easy. Jared stays in the car with their still sleeping children while Jensen gets the room keys and someone offers to bring the bags up.

Getting their kids into the room is the difficult part. Brooke and Arianna are passed out and grumpy about being wrangled out of their car seats. Jared magically manages to get one girl in each arm, their sleepy heads on his shoulders. Jensen has the easier job of carrying Chase.

In the end, the girls sleep for another hour or so on the hotel room bed while Jared and Jensen snuggle up on their own. Chase is safe and sleeping in his carrier and they curl around each other, kissing lazily and teetering on the edge of sleep. There is a current of excitement in Jensen’s blood when he thinks about all the things he has planned for their family but right now laziness is about the right speed for how he wants to spend the morning.

He finds himself losing track of time and assumes he fell asleep. He wakes up with his face in Jared’s neck and the man’s arm wrapped around him, holding him close. Jared’s awake and excited, Jensen can see it in his eyes. He’s got a brochure of all the activities the lodge offers and his eyes scan it, darting back and forth.

“Hey, baby,” Jensen mumbles against Jared’s skin and kisses him.

Jared responds with a whispered, deep, “hey,” and a smile. “Where did you bring us, Jen?” It’s completely rhetorical and meant to get his approval across to Jensen.

“You like?”

“Mmm hmm. It’s a cute lodge. Lots of stuff for the girls to do.”

“Lots of stuff for us too but honestly I picked this place because of the kids. But they do have daycare…so…you know…” Jensen raises his eyebrows playfully but he’s not insane. He knows sex is off the table for the time being but that doesn’t mean he can’t steal Jared away for at least an hour or so alone.

Jared seems to like the idea because he rolls them both onto their backs and holds the brochure up so they can read it. His finger points to a couples massage. “Yes please. I’ll take one of these.”

That is a definite possibility. Their rugrats better wake up soon because Jensen’s got a lot planned for them.

*****************

Weather and Jensen don’t always get along. Jensen blames himself. He often spends so much time daydreaming about a perfect day that he banks on perfect weather too much. He’s learned that a perfect day does not have to include perfect weather. It’s the events and the emotions that matter.

Still, the day’s weather is actually perfect. And with a newborn, it’s practically the only time where weather does mean so much.

It’s snowing but it’s mild out. The flakes are big and fluffy and the landscape is a white winter wonderland.

The girls are giggling messes. They _love_ the snow. As soon as Jared and Jensen suited them up in water resistant snow pants and warm jackets, they are out in the snow. It takes a little warming up. Arianna won’t let go of Jensen’s hand and hides behind his legs while Brooke practically dives into it.

Seeing that it is safe, Arianna tugs Jensen out from under the awning were Jared is happily sitting with a bundled up Chase. She looks up at Jensen for reassurance and then pushes him towards the snow first.

“Here, Ari, look.” Jensen scoops up some snow and shows it to her. Arianna stares at it and licks it, pulling back when she gets a face full of cold flakes. Her eyes go wide and she runs back to Jared.

Meanwhile, Brooke is practically buried in the snow as she crawls through it on her belly. She giggles and laughs while Jensen chases her. They both plop down in the snow and Jensen shows her how to make a snow angel. It’s kind of adorable because Brooke is over enthusiastic, making snow fly everywhere.

Eventually, Jared gets Arianna to stop hiding. He sits on his butt in the snow with Chase safe in his arms and she sits down slowly next to him. She pokes at the snow once, twice, three times before she face plants in it.

Jensen’s sure she is going to cry but she pulls back with a wide smile.

After that, Jared and Jensen shift closer to each other to watch the girls play. They fall a lot but they laugh every time. Jensen takes Chase while Jared helps them build the most pathetic snowman he’s ever seen but the girls keep trying to “help” by adding odd shaped mounds of snow and their snowman looks like he’s got elephantiasis.

It’s one of the simplest and happiest days on Jensen’s list of “Amazing Days Spent with Jared.”

Later on, they go for a sleigh ride and almost have a heart attack when the girls try jumping out of the sleigh. Arianna and Brooke are laughing, Jared and Jensen hold onto them for dear life. Even Chase likes the ride, his eyes going wide every time there is a bump in their path and then he goes serious like he is trying to figure it out.

 The day flows easily into night and dinner is uneventful but perfect.

They’re all too exhausted to do anything other than hit the hay at the same time. Jensen wakes up to feed Chase and savors their alone time while nestled in the arm chair in the corner of the room. The little boy makes the task easy for Jensen, drinking efficiently and passing out as soon as Jensen snaps his onesie up after a fresh diaper change. The girls wake up when Chase fuses in the bassinette when Jensen tries to rock him back to sleep. Arianna tugs Brooke’s hand and sneaks over towards their father to shush Chase right along with Jensen.

And since they are on vacation, he lets the girls break the rules and climb up into the bed with him and Jared. They wiggle themselves between the two men, Arianna curling into Jensen’s chest and Brooke sprawled out ungracefully on her back with her hands thrown over her head.

Waking up in the morning to a cramped bed is heartwarming. Jared’s already up but he’s lying on his side and lovingly pushing Brooke’s hair out of her face. He smiles when he sees Jensen crack an eye open and meet his gaze. He mouths, “I love you” and Jensen mirrors the action.

The girls look so sweet and little; it makes no sense but Jensen’s gut twists up and worries over the fact that they keep getting bigger. He shoves it back down under layers of the desire to savor the moment.

There is no rush to their morning activities. They order room service and eat in bed, hoping the girls don’t get too used to this and think their brand now beds are a safe place for bowls of cereal and syrupy breakfast foods.

Dressed and read, there are a million activities to choose from. Jensen lets Jared do the honors.

Turns out, the lodge has a small outdoor ice rink and Jared surprises Jensen when he says he wants to make time for a few laps.

Jensen knows that Jared likes physical activity and running but he’s never pictured him in skates. Mostly, that’s because Jensen is completely and totally useless on ice. He skated once – _once_ – when he was a kid and it was such a disaster that he deemed never to do so again. He and ice are not friends, which is why he lives somewhere warm.

Still, Jared is excited and someone needs to watch Chase, so he agrees.

The rink is small and Jared is shaping up to be one of those parents who throws his kids into any and all activities. Brooke and Arianna turn out to be pretty damn adorable in their rental skates, wobbly as baby giraffes and trying to march like little soldiers.

Jared straps on a pair of hockey skates and leaves Jensen with the kids for a few laps to “get his skating legs back.”

All Jensen can do is whistle as Jared takes to the ice like it’s second nature. He wizzes by, circling effortlessly and skating round and round t while tucked down low and building up speed. Brooke and Ari try to jump high enough to see over the wall around the rink, hopping and pointing to Jared.

“See, Papa?” Jensen asks. “You wanna go skate with him?”

They both nod and are wiggling with excitement by the time Jared comes back to fetch them. He grabs Ari first, holding both her hands and skating so that her little feet are trying to find purchase on the ice between Jared’s legs. She doesn’t really get the idea but she keeps her balance and loves it when Jared speeds up and pushes her ahead of him.

Jensen manages to corral Brooke between his legs long enough to take pictures of two of his favorite people. He puts Chase down in the stroller and steadies himself in time to snap a sweet picture of Arianna laughing up at Jared.

Jared returns just in time to prevent Brooke from having a meltdown and swaps kids. It’s like Brooke and Arianna have flipped because for as fearless as Brooke was with the snow, the ice makes her cling to Jared. She goes stiff, her little legs sticking out awkwardly and making it difficult for Jared to skate around with her. He has to coax her off of him and skates around the rink with her in his arms several times before she actually wants to try putting her skates on the ice.

Brooke is hilarious. She gears up for skating by wiggling her butt and making little punching motions with her arms. Then, like a wind-up toy, she stomps forward. It wouldn’t help in getting her across the rink had Jared not been pushing her. Either way, she laughs.

Jared repeats the process several times, switching which girl he helps around the rink before the girls have had their fill.

“Your turn, Jensen,” he says with a smile and flushed cheeks.

“Wha? Me? Oh, no. I’m good.” Jensen blinks several times and laughs nervously.

“Oh, come on, Jen! It’s fun. We can put the kids in the daycare room for an hour or so. Chase is probably going to sleep the whole time.”

“No I’m…” Jensen’s aware that he’s stammering.

“Have you ever skated before?”

“Umm..yeah…once…when I was six.”

“Six!” Jared laughs. “Oh no, you are going skating. Come on, it’ll be fun!”

Then things take a turn. The vacation is no longer in Jensen’s grasp; Jared has the reins and he’s calling the shots now. Somehow, Jensen ends up with his feet in skates while Jared delivers their kids to daycare. Jensen _tries_ to make excuses about how they shouldn’t leave Chase at such a young age but Jared shoots every excuse down with the fact that they left the twins alone around this age. He feeds Jensen back every calming word Jensen used against Jared two years ago.

It’s hopeless. Jensen is going skating.

And just as Jensen predicted, it’s a nightmare.

Jensen takes one step on the ice and almost comes face to face with it. Thankfully, Jared is right there to catch him.

“Easy, big boy.” Jared laughs, hoisting Jensen up and holding him firmly.

“I feel like an idiot.” Jensen says as he takes baby steps around the rink, holding on to the siding till he’s white knuckled and probably cutting off circulation in Jared’s hand.

“You don’t look like an idiot?”

“Oh really?” Jensen says with a raised eyebrow. “Because, I’m pretty sure our two year olds looked better than this.” As if to prove his point, he wobbles, pitching forward and then leaning back to counter the imbalance. He overdoes it and almost lands on his ass.

Jared laughs as he helps keep Jensen steady. “It’s okay, no one is watching us. It’s just me and you.”

“Yeah, exactly. Now I get to look like an idiot in front of you.”

“You’re cute when you’re an idiot.” Jared says and has the dexterity to kiss Jensen’s cheek. “Come on.” He spins around and skates backwards, holding out his hands and trying to pry Jensen off the wall.

“Of course you can skate backwards.” Jensen huffs but it’s exaggerated and for show. “What can’t you do?”

“Deliver twins by myself in an elevator.” Jared responds without a second thought. “That’s way more impressive than skating backwards.”

“Touché.” Jensen trusts Jared. He really does. It’s why he is able to let go of the wall and grab the man’s hand. His heart is thumping in his chest and he feels like an idiot for being afraid of the ice but he can’t help it.

It’s slow going but they get around the rink once. Jensen wobbles the whole time and he’s stepping more than gliding across the ice. Jared cheers for him when he completes one lap and even though he feels ridiculous, it makes Jensen smile.

They go around again, this time with Jensen finding the confidence to skate more. Jared lets go and Jensen might be the worst example of an ice skater but he gets around on his own. Once, he teeters forward and lands with his arms around Jared’s neck, ass tilted out and looking completely laughable. Jared holds onto him, taking the moment to kiss his nose.

“Why do you love me?” Jensen groans as he rights himself.

“Because you’re amazing and pretty adorable in skates. Seriously, you’re kind of the cutest thing on the ice. Cuter than Ari and Brooke.”

Jensen snorts.

They go around two more times before Jared spins and saddles up next to Jensen so he can hook their elbows together. “See, isn’t this romantic.”

“Yeah, if I wasn’t worried about cracking my skull on the ice, it would be great.” Jensen shakes his head and holds onto Jared a little tighter. He actually takes a long stride and smiles when he realizes he is getting the hang of this. He’s still infantile in his skill level but it’s progress. He has to admit, it’s nice having this time with Jared. And he loves how much confidence Jared has in him. “Yeah, it’s kinda nice.” He wobbles but Jared spins them, plastering Jensen against the rink wall and keeping him there by pressing his chest into Jensen’s.

Jensen is wide eyed with the sudden movement but smiles when his and Jared’s nose brush. “Hey, handsome.”

“Hi,” Jared breathes and goes in for a kiss.

That’s enough of an incentive for Jensen to trust Jared with supporting the both of them and he parts his lips and lets the man give him a proper kiss. Their tongues licks at each other’s and they’re letting off so much heat that it rises them in visible little puffs.

“Come on. Wanna get that massage?” Jared whispers in his ears. “The kids are good for another hour and a half.”

“Hmm, massage sounds good.” Jensen goes to kiss Jared but the man scoots away playfully, skating backwards and out of Jensen’s grasp. “Jay!”

“Come and catch me!” Jared loops back around but stays just out of Jensen’s reach. “Come on, Jensen.”

Jensen growls playfully. Oh, he’s going to catch Jared. And when he does, he’s going to make him pay.

If only Jared would slow down and the ice would stop tripping him up.

******************

The massage turns out to be amazing. It’s an hour long; Jensen wishes it was just a little longer but even then it wouldn’t be enough. He’s a relaxed smiling person when he floats in to pick up the kids. Even though he and Jared didn’t say a word during the massage, it felt nice to actually take care of themselves for once while simultaneously knowing that the other one is being taken care of as well.

Dinner is more eventful than the prior night because Chase spits up all over Jensen and Arianna when tries to “help” clean it up she leans over her plate of pasta and gets sauce all over her front.

Not to be out done, Brooke finishes up the night by getting more chocolate ice cream down her shirt than in her mouth and she drips it all over her baby brother when she tries to feed some to Chase. By default, she gets it on Jared as well because he’s in the middle of trying to nurse the infant.

The night is a saucy, sticky, syrupy, vomity mess but they can’t stop laughing.

They apologize to the waiter, leave a huge tip, and dump the kids in the huge tub as soon as they get back to the hotel room.

Arianna and Brooke let Jared and Jensen scrub them up, too tired from the day to put up much of a fight. They _beg_ for Jared and Jensen to put Chase in the tub with them and don’t understand that he’s too little for bath time. They settle for letting Jensen wrap them in fluffy towels so they can “help” Jared wash Chase in the sink.

As usual, it’s not very helpful. Brooke puts her favorite doll in the sink with Chase so Chase can play, soaks the poor doll through and through then cries when Jared won’t let her go to bed with it. Arianna gets soap in the baby’s eyes and through it is tearless, Chase still doesn’t appreciate it and gets so agitated that he pees all over Jared and Arianna.

It’s a bit of a mess and Jensen ends up dunking Ari in the tub again.

Jensen is exhausted by the time he and Jared wrangle the kids into pajamas and tuck the twins into the full sized bed they’re sharing. Jared reads them a story and they’re out like a light as Chase gets settled in his portable crib.

Finished with their bedtime duties, Jared and Jensen get a good look at each other.

They look like they’ve just fought a war.

“I think you’ve got some chocolate sauce on you.” Jensen says as he leans in and licks at Jared’s neck.

A moan leaves Jared’s mouth and he shivers. “Mmmm, that feels good.” He tilts his head to the left and lets Jensen explore and suck more.

“I think you got some down here too,” Jensen mumbles against Jared’s skin and kisses his collar bone.

“Well don’t go much lower or you’ll get a dose of Chase pee.”

That dampens the flame in Jensen’s belly. “Ugh.”

“Yeah, well, you’re covered in baby spit up.” Jared says with a scrunching of his nose. Their eyes lock and their minds settle on the same idea.

“Bath?” They say at the same time.

Thankfully, the tub is huge and big enough for both of them and then some. After pouring a capful of bubble bath into the tub, Jensen sees Jared fussing with his shirt, a self-conscious blush staining his cheeks. He leaves the tub to fill and catches Jared’s chin with his thumb and forefinger. “Aww, baby.” He puts a reassuring hand on the one Jared’s been wringing his shirt with. “It’s okay.” Jensen nudges at Jared’s head and gets him to look him in the eye. Truthfully, he’s seen Jared topless but he’s always obscured by a robe or Chase. He understands why the man would be worried but he shouldn’t be. “You look amazing.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Jensen grabs the bottom of Jared’s shirt and helps shimmy it up. He coasts a gentle hand up Jared’s flank and pulls him close. “Yeah. Perfect. So perfect.”

“Liar,” Jared smirks, “and I love you for it.” He pulls at Jensen’s shirt and helps the man disrobe. By the time they’re nude, the tub is frothy and filled.

They step in and scrub what needs to be scrubbed before Jensen leans against the curved wall and pulls Jared so that he can recline against Jensen’s chest and sink into the warm water.

In unison, they sigh and relax into the moment, finding a way to fit their bodies together more perfectly than anyone else could.

Jensen presses a kiss to Jared’s temple and wraps and arm around his chest, keeping him close.

“Thanks for planning this, Jen.” Jared whispers happily.

“Welcome. It was a good idea, wasn’t it?”

“Mmm hmm. A great idea. The girls had so much fun.” Jared twists and kisses Jensen’s jaw. “Jensen?”

“Hmm?”

“Umm…I was thinking…and I know we need to talk about it…but I was thinking that I really wanna stay home with the kids for a little while. I wanna…I wanna take care of you and our home and our kids. I love working with you but…I am torn. I want to take care of you, Jen. I – ” Jared is cut off by Jensen’s lips against his. “Umph!” His eyes go wide and he flails in the water for a second until Jensen steadies him and kisses him silly.

Jensen’s heart explodes into a million tiny pieces that course through his veins and make him feel like he’s flying. He loves working with Jared and wouldn’t have it any other way. His business is his _and_ Jared’s business but he also loves that Jared wants to put Jensen and their kids first.

They kiss for a long while before he can think straight enough to get words out. “Oh, fuck, Jared…you…” He nips at Jared’s lips and growls playfully, flipping them in the tub so that Jared is against the edge and he can straddle Jared’s hips. They are making a huge mess, water sloshing out of the tub in waves while he rocks his hips against the younger man’s.

Sex is off limits but feeling Jared’s hardening arousal grind against his own seems perfectly safe.

Jared moans and lets his head loll back, breathy sighs coming out of his lips as Jensen shifts and bucks into him.

Everything else is automatic. Jensen doesn’t trust words to get across how happy he is. “You wanna stay home for our family?”

“For a little while. If we can manage it. Yeah…I do. I wanna take care of you Jen. Oh!” Jared’s eyes go wide when he feels Jensen’s hand circle his dick.

“We can manage it.” Jensen kisses Jared’s throat and feels a moan vibrate against his lips. “I love that you wanna take care of us…that’s so,” _selfless_ Jensen thinks but he doesn’t get out more than a moan because Jared wraps both hands around his arousal and does this amazing twisting thing that almost makes him come right then and there. “Fuck, Jared!”

They try to keep quiet considering they have things they’d rather be doing than explaining why daddy is practically on top of papa in the tub. Jared bites Jensen’s bottom lip, growls, and fucks his tongue into his mouth.

They’re both grinding against each other so forcefully that water keeps slapping against the floor tiles.

They don’t care. Their lips are crashing into one another’s as their hearts synch up and they come at practically the same time. Panting fills the room and they can’t seem to get much more out than each other’s name.

Sinking into the cooling water, they’ll still need to wash up but don’t have the muscle control to worry about that right now.

There is still two more days left of their trip but Jensen wouldn’t be disappointed if it ended right now. He’s so over the moon with his life that he doesn’t really need a vacation _from_ it, he simply wanted time with his family away from the rest of the world.

“You’re so good to me.” Jared breathes into Jensen’s chest. “I love you so much.” Jared smiles against Jensen’s skin enough so that the man can feel it. “Wanna spend forever with you.”

“I like the sound of that,” Jensen lets out in an excited hurry. What Jared just said is the closest he’s ever gotten to verbally expressing some type of permanent commitment. Jensen’s afraid to make too much of a deal about it because he doesn’t want to scare Jared off. “We’re gonna do that, okay?”

Instead of running from the question, Jared stays put. “Promise?”

“Cross my heart.”

Jensen wraps his arms around Jared and knows he’ll never let go as long as Jared won’t.

Jared holds him even tighter and kisses him right over his beating heart.

Their world is good.

Perfect.


End file.
